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I picked up some of this paint, so I can make some of my dudes metallic red. What's the best way to get an even coat over silver paint? I did a test patch, and it didn't seem to want to spread even. It beaded up a little bit.

I think I got it. If I apply it thicker it works just fine.

you can also hit the silver with matte varnish from a rattle can and the go over the areas with the clear red.

Make sure to shade anything you apply it to beforehand to get better details. A black wash over the metallics first works great.

Thin it with X20a and airbrush it on in two or more thin coats.

DaemonJellybaby wrote:
Thin it with X20a and airbrush it on in two or more thin coats.

I don't have an airbrush. I'm using just regular brushes.

get the thinner anyway, get a dropper bottle, I found 9 parts paint to 1 part thinner was plenty - just keeps it liquid a bit longer.

Found by brush about three coats was needed - but on larger models four or five and even then it looks a bit pants.

Ok on marine sized though as the issue is larger flat surfaces.

Also leave for 24 hours between coats to fully cure or it will still take a fingerprint

If you know someone with an airbrush its way easier (and much faster) to apply it that way.

IIRC Tamiya do this in a rattlecan which may be worth a look


Plus lots on pre-shade this, I went with a metallic black base through to a chrome silver before airbrushing over the lot for some MkIII, for CSM its a gold base then blocking in individual panels

also be aware regardless this is a pain to paint over - you can do it but a brush applied primer is a big help

leopard wrote:
get the thinner anyway, get a dropper bottle, I found 9 parts paint to 1 part thinner was plenty - just keeps it liquid a bit longer.

Found by brush about three coats was needed - but on larger models four or five and even then it looks a bit pants.

Ok on marine sized though as the issue is larger flat surfaces.

Also leave for 24 hours between coats to fully cure or it will still take a fingerprint

If you know someone with an airbrush its way easier (and much faster) to apply it that way.

IIRC Tamiya do this in a rattlecan which may be worth a look


Plus lots on pre-shade this, I went with a metallic black base through to a chrome silver before airbrushing over the lot for some MkIII, for CSM its a gold base then blocking in individual panels

also be aware regardless this is a pain to paint over - you can do it but a brush applied primer is a big help

Wow, thats super helpful. Thanks for that small write up. If I were doing the silver base, and using black wash, how many layers of wash would be appropriate?

These guys are the clear red over a pale gold - indeed the gold you see is the base gold



This is brush painted, for small panels like this is works reasonably well (easier than painting the gold after would have been for sure)

this is it brushed onto a vehicle



This is after five slightly thinned coats, thinned a little more for this to keep it liquid slightly longer, trick is you cannot overpaint one layer with another unless applying a whole new layer or the edge is painfully obvious - so identify panels or other things you can use as a hard edge - on the rhino the sides and top were done separately for example

this guy is the same as the marines but slightly larger panels, on curves it works better than flat surfaces as slight variations are harder to see



It is a wonderful colour but needs a bit of care

don't try to mix it with water though, its an alcohol based paint and mixing with water makes a royal mess